Items tagged with Net Neutrality

AT&T's loathing of the FCC's Open Internet Order isn't as strong as its desire to acquire satellite TV provider DirecTV. As such, the telecom is expected to put into writing a promise to abide by the FCC's net neutrality rules in order so that the government organization will be comfortable in green lighting the proposed $48.5 billion merger. This is a big deal for AT&T, a major telecom that's been vehemently opposed to the agency's net neutrality rules, or at least the way it went about implementing them. The FCC earlier this year was successful in reclassifying broadband Internet as a...Read more...

As expected would happen, AT&T along with several other telecoms and cable companies have reportedly filed a stay request to prevent the Federal Communications Commission from reclassifying broadband Internet service as a public utility under Title II of the Communications Act, a piece of legislation that's over 80 years old.The FCC made the ruling back in February, and by reclassifying broadband as a public utility, the government arm gave itself power to implement net neutrality rules. At the same time, FCC chairman Tom Wheeler made it clear that the fear mongering over implementing dated...Read more...

Well, that didn’t take long. It was only a week ago that FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler predicted lawsuits would challenge the FCC’s classification of broadband Internet service as a utility – and fail. Today, the United States Telecom Association set out to prove him wrong. The industry trade group filed a lawsuit that asserts the reclassification violates federal law. “In challenging the legality of the FCC’s Open Internet order, USTelecom believes the FCC used the wrong approach to implementing net neutrality standards, which our industry supports and incorporates into everyday business practices,”...Read more...

Not everyone is happy with the Federal Communications Commission's decision to reclassify broadband Internet service as a utility under Title II of the Communications Act of 1934; an 81-year-old law intended to regulate the telecommunications sector. In particular, wireless carriers, Internet service providers, and republicans are miffed at the FCC's actions and plan to take matters to court. No worries, says FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler. Wheeler gave a speech at Ohio State University where he emphatically stated that the net neutrality rules, as laid out by reclassifying...Read more...

Leading up to the FCC's approval of net neutrality rules last month, it had been clear that companies opposing the move wouldn't be resting on their laurels for too long afterwards. In particular, AT&T's CEO Randall Stephenson said that there 'will be litigation', and as it happens, he meant it. AT&T's Randall Stephenson; Flickr: Dan Farber Yesterday, trade group USTelecom, of which AT&T and Verizon are members, issued a petition to the US Court of Appeals to help thwart net neutrality rules from becoming active (which is set to happen 60 days after the FCC ruling). In the petition,...Read more...

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) today made available the full text of its Open Internet Order following the reclassification of broadband Internet as a utility in a recent 3-2 vote. It's a long read -- exactly 400 pages from start to finish, and it includes dissenting opinions from Republican commissioners. This is the first time the full text has been available for mass consumption. Commissioners Ajit Pai and Micheal O'Rielly were the two biggest dissenters to the FCC's decision to reclassify the Internet under Title II of the Communications Act of 1934. Their opinions are spelled...Read more...

As someone who once served as the governor of Florida, it stands to reason that presidential hopeful Jeb Bush has seen and heard some downright wild ideas, as most politicians probably have. But the one that's apparently so far out there as to be deemed the "craziest idea" of all is the Federal Communications Commission's decision to regulate broadband Internet as a utility. "The idea of regulating access to the Internet with a 1934 law is one of the craziest ideas I've ever heard," Bush said, according to Time. "Just think of the logic of using a 1934 law that was designed...Read more...

What we had hoped for has come true: The Federal Communications Commission has approved net neutrality rules. Make no mistake, this is a hugely important move, and an almost surprising one given just how much it caters to keeping the Internet open. With these rules, ISPs will be unable to throttle the data that passes through their pipes, and they certainly can't charge companies for "fast lane" privileges. The Internet will be open, free... period. Well, you know, we can just ignore the fact that the government will continue to do whatever eavesdropping it wants - but that's totally unrelated...Read more...

All signs point to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approving the regulation of the Internet as a public utility, a reclassification under Title II that will ultimately give the FCC the power it needs to impose certain rules, the biggest of which is prohibiting Internet Service Providers (ISPs) from charging for faster lanes on the web.According to The New York Times, senior Republicans have essentially conceded that the fight with President Obama over the reclassification of the Internet is over. Furthermore, Republicans have said that they are unlikely to pass legislation that would...Read more...

AT&T has been awarded a patent for speeding up BitTorrent and other peer-to-peer traffic. We're not sure why the U.S. telecom is suddenly interested in file sharing, other than perhaps fielding complaints for throttling such traffic, but whatever the reason, the patent would create a so-called fast lane for file sharers, provided it's ever implemented. According to TorrentFreak, unauthorized file sharing is responsible for petabytes of traffic every month. That kind of traffic can lead to congested networks, hence why ISPs sometimes throttle BitTorrent. That's likely the...Read more...

The road to net neutrality and winning the Internet, as it were, won't be one that's quickly or easily traveled. On the bright side, Federal Communications Chairman (FCC) Tom Wheeler earlier this month announced quite plainly that the FCC will propose reclassifying the Internet as a utility under Title II of the 1934 Communications Act, putting it into the same category that power companies fall into. Doing so would give the FCC the power it needs to regulate Internet so that it stays free and open, but as you can imagine, telcos and ISPs aren't particularly...Read more...

We reported earlier this week that the FCC was expected to issue a new net neutrality proposal this week, and as we can now see, it hasn't taken long to get a follow-up. In fact, FCC chairman Tom Wheeler has gone the extra mile by penning his own piece for Wired so that we could learn about this new proposal in layman's terms. As we hoped, the FCC will in fact be proposing that our Internet access will be classified as Title II, which would put it in the same category that power companies fall into. As far as many people are concerned, including myself, Title II is the only way we can guarantee...Read more...

Well, here's some long overdue progress. It's expected that on Thursday, FCC chairman Tom Wheeler will issue a proposal that works in net neutrality's favor, and fortunately, a vote will take place just a few weeks later. Wheeler's proposal would make our Internet access a Title II utility. That means that it'd be regulated in much the same way as public utilities, such as power, but it's expected that this proposal will stop short of having any oversight on pricing. Flickr: Stephen Melkisethian One of the greatest benefits of putting our Internet access under Title II is that fast lanes will...Read more...

Everyone is waiting to see what the Federal Communications Commission will rule when it comes to net neutrality. However, the FCC is preparing itself for a lawsuit from cable companies in response to when it finally votes net neutrality regulations into place. At least that is what FCC chairman Tom Wheeler said earlier today.According to The Hill, Wheeler said, “The big dogs are going to sue regardless of what comes out. We need to make sure that we have sustainable rules, and that starts with making sure that we have addressed the multiplicity of issues that come along and are likely to be raised."Wheeler...Read more...